麻豆传媒AV

North Battleford was not spared from construction delays in expanding Water Treatment Plant No. 1 last year, due to the unusual wet weather the province received.

However, the delays aren't going to cost the City the money committed by the federal government towards the project.

The government announced last fall they have extended the deadline to complete projects under the Infrastructure Stimulus Funding program to Oct. 31, 2011, pushing back its original March 31 deadline date by seven months.

That should allow the City to complete the water treatment plant expansion and still maintain the $2.3 million commitment pledged by the federal government in the fall of 2009. City officials fully expect the project to be done by June, in plenty of time to meet the deadline, and indicated at Monday night's council meeting they intend to make sure the contractor on the project meets that timeline.

The City had planned to complete the plant expansion by the original March 31 deadline, but City officials indicated those plans changed because of the rainfall the city experienced.

A Dec. 31 memo from Public Works Director Stewart Schafer indicated Miners Construction Ltd., the general contractor for the expansion project, had indicated they were not going to be able to complete the work by March 31. However, the work would be completed by June, 2011.

Several communities pushed for an extension, citing delays caused by the rainfall and floods that affected a number of communities last summer.

The extension was also pushed by federal opposition politicians including NDP leader Jack Layton, who last summer called for an extension in response to the flood situation in Saskatchewan.

The federal government finally announced in the fall they would extend the deadline. The new deadline means municipalities can complete their projects without being penalized with reduced funding.

Mayor Ian Hamilton said he was grateful for the deadline extension.

Councillors wanted to know if the project would be able to meet the new deadline without any further difficulties. Schafer assured them there should be no problem getting the project done by the new deadline and noted the activity currently going on.

"Stealing somebody's thunder, we are going to be 'raising the roof'" in the next week or so, Schafer said, referring to the placement of the roof on the expanded facility.

Still, Mayor Hamilton was not thrilled that the delay happened with the project in the first place.

"They assured us regardless of anything that the contract would be done by March 31," Hamilton said of Miners Construction.

He wanted assurances the contractor would not prioritize another project or reallocate some of their resources. City officials indicated that they wanted to make sure the project was wrapped up by May or June so that the expanded plant would be up and running as quickly as possible.

City Manager Jim Toye said he would push for the project to be done by May "and we will not put up with anything more than that," he assured council.